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Division of Water Resources Monitoring Well Network
The North Carolina Division of Water Resources operates and maintains a network of 611 ground water monitoring wells at 207 separate locations across the state (for a map of current well locations, click here). DWR monitors these wells to assess natural and human impacts to the ground water resources of North Carolina. Currently we work with the North Carolina district of the United States Geological Survey through the USGS-NCDENR Cooperative Agreement to monitor 13 wells at 13 locations. DWR has active monitoring wells in 61 of the one hundred NC counties. The USGS cooperative agreement adds wells in 4 additional counties. Monitoring Well Network News is available to keep up with DWR network changes. The Division maintains a set of well network site maps. View network statistics here. Access to the collected ground water levels is here.
In the Coastal Plain, DWR typically installs monitoring wells in areas with actual or potential ground water management issues, most relating to ground water overuse. In the Piedmont and Mountains, DWR's goal is to install several monitoring well nests in each major river basin. This arrangement provides DWR data necessary to assess how climatic conditions impact ground water supplies. Also, we hope that collecting data by river basin will help us understand how these climatic conditions affect baseflow to streams and rivers, which in turn can dramatically affect the surface water supplies of dozens of North Carolina communities. View the Drought Indicator Wells, a page designed to show the changing availability of ground water as it is influenced by rainfall in a 56 well subset of the network.
| Monitoring Well Construction | Data Acquisition |